Yesterday the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported that 21% of American adults do not use the internet. Though 34% of these non users have either used the internet in the past or reside in households that are connected, 48% of them are either too busy or not interested, view it as a waste of time, or do not need or want to use it. Additionally, 21% cited price as the reason they remain off-line, while 18% cite usability as a barrier for entry.
So what does this mean for those of us who are assisting our clients navigate their way through social networks in order to develop campaigns to support their brands and organizations?
As in any relationship building or public relations/marketing activity, identifying your target audience is critical in developing a successful strategy. Since 79% of your potential audience is on-line, you need to determine what they are doing when they are logged in. Back in August I posted an article that social networking was dominating on-line activity. That post was supported by a survey done by Nielsen Wire who provided us with a snapshot of that activity.
Therefore, one component of your on-line strategy should target social networks. Depending upon your budget, you could expand your campaign to include email marketing and advertising.
If the one in five Americans off-line are an important element of your audience, then traditional marketing and public relations activities need to be part of your overall campaign. Clearly social media channels should be an important element in almost any PR/marketing campaign. If we are in the business to create successful campaigns for our client's, we must do the research first, and then determine what the appropriate tactics are to create a successful campaign.
How do you develop a winning strategy? Are you still using traditional communication channels?